Projects with Prior Approval
Recognition of prior approval from another Human Research Ethics Committee
According to the National Statement, Chapter 5.5, institutions should wherever possible 'minimise unnecessary duplication of ethical review'.
Can my prior approval be recognised by ANU HREC?
Your protocol must meet these conditions in order to qualify:
- The HREC that approved the research protocol must be registered with NHMRC.
- Your ethics protocol must be currently active – this means the approval has not yet expired, and you are still obligated under the National Statement to provide regular reports to that institution's HREC as per their standard processes.
- Your research must not be targeting recruitment of ANU staff and students as participants (e.g., interviewing ANU staff or students, recruiting ANU students through SONA).
This process also does not apply to new ANU researchers seeking to transfer a human ethics application from a previous institution to ANU. Please see below.
Expedited Application Process Prior Approvals
If your project has been reviewed by another NHMRC registered HREC, then your project will be reviewed on a expedited basis. On submission, the application will be reviewed out-of-session. If you have prior HREC approval but not from a NHMRC registered HREC, your application may be expedited but at the discretion of the HREC Chair.
Please submit a human ethics application in REMS as per normal, and make sure to upload a) your original application and b) evidence of the prior HREC approval as supporting documents.
Transferring an Ethics Approval to ANU
If you are a new ANU researcher seeking to transfer a human ethics approval from a previous institution to ANU, please submit a new human ethics application in REMS as per above. When your ANU application has been approved, you can notify your old institution that the protocol has been transferred to ANU and they can close their record of the protocol.
If you are continuing to work with your old institution to conduct this research project, you don't have to transfer the approval to ANU. The ANU HREC will recognise your prior approval while the original ethics protocol remains active. However, you should contact your old institution to request that someone remaining at that institution become the Primary Investigator (PI), and that you are then listed as an external co-investigator. The protocol will continue to be monitored by your old institution - ANU will not have primary oversight of this research.
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